1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for triggering an audible beacon in a portable wireless phone that can be used by emergency service providers to locate individuals.
2. Related Art
In an emergency situation, a prompt response by emergency service providers can make the difference between life and death to an incapacitated individual. The existing wireless 911 systems are able to obtain only a cell-site location and a callback number for the wireless 911 caller. With this type of system, a problem is incurred when an individual is unable to speak, give locator information or respond to a telephone call if the emergency service providers decide to use the callback number. By October 2001, the typical wireless communications system will be able to locate an individual to within 125 meters of accuracy as required by the Enhanced 911 (E911) Phase II provision of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate for wireless communications.
Most often, locating an individual to within 125 meters only means pinpointing a building location, not an exact physical location of the individual. This can present a problem to rescue workers when the building has multiple floors such as in skyscrapers, office buildings, or high rise apartment dwellings. With the existing location systems, the rescue workers have to search from room-to-room to locate an incapacitated individual in such a building. To perform a search using the room-to-room method is quite time consuming and impractical in an emergency situation.
What is needed is a system and method for assisting rescue workers in more quickly locating incapacitated individuals by pinpointing the individual""s location much more closely than the E911 Phase II standard of 125 meters of accuracy.
The present invention is a system and method for aiding emergency service providers in locating an incapacitated individual by use of a wireless communications device. Upon establishment of a call to a predetermined telephone number, the audio beacon is initiated in the handset of a wireless communications device. If, while the connection between the wireless communication device and the emergency services number is open, there is a detection of a predetermined interruption in audio voice signals being transmitted from the wireless communications device, the audible beacon will periodically emit a tone. The emitted tone assists dispatched rescue workers in more quickly locating distressed individuals by allowing the workers to listen for the tone emanating from the handset of the phone. Upon termination of a call to the emergency services telephone number, the audible beacon is immediately initiated. The audible beacon can also be remotely initiated from the call destination location of the emergency service provider if, for example, it becomes necessary to reinitiate the audible beacon after it has been manually turned off. Once the audible beacon is initiated, the stored volume settings of the handset are overridden by the tone of the beacon system. The tone continues to be activated through the handset until it is manually turned off.
An advantage of the present invention is that the audible beacon allows rescue workers to more quickly locate individuals who may be trapped inside buildings with multiple floors and work spaces by permitting the rescue worker to pinpoint, via the emanation of the audible tone, the office space from which the call may have originated. The previous methods only allowed the rescue worker to determine the building from which the call originated.
Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the operation of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.